The Party That Killed || Hyunlix

62 🕸️

3rd person pov.
Seungmin sat in front of the laptop, staring at the screen with a focus rarely seen in him. Every attempt to break the pendrive’s security had ended in failure. The files were encrypted in a way that suggested professional work. Jeongin stood beside him, leaning against the desk, watching him with concern.

“This looks like something not just anyone could do,” Jeongin muttered, folding his arms. “Maybe... maybe this pendrive isn’t random after all?”

Seungmin glanced up at him from the corner of his eye, tired but unwilling to give up.

“If this has anything to do with Jungmin and what they did to him, we need to figure it out,” he replied firmly.

Jeongin hesitated, as though trying to remember something important. Finally, his eyes lit up.

“Wait, Chan! At that party, when we were talking, I noticed he had some documents. He quickly hid them when I got close. It looked like he was hiding something.”

Seungmin raised an eyebrow.

“And you’re telling me this now?”

“I didn’t think it was important! Back then, it didn’t seem like much. But now, with all of this...” Jeongin motioned to the pendrive.

Seungmin sighed heavily, feeling frustration build.

“We need to go there. If Chan knows something or has something that can help, we can’t wait.”

Jeongin nodded, determination flashing in his eyes.

“Alright. But we’re going together.”

Seungmin stood up, shaking off the weight of doubt. He knew what they were about to uncover could change everything.

≈🎃≈

Seungmin and Jeongin stood in the darkness, staring at Chan’s abandoned house. The faint light from a streetlamp illuminated the overgrown yard, giving the place an eerie atmosphere. The air was damp and cold, with only the sound of the wind in the distance. Both were silent, cautious, as if fearing that any wrong decision could trigger a cascade of unexpected events. They stood at the gate for a moment, contemplating their next move.

“Do you think anyone still lives here?” Jeongin asked, looking toward the dark windows.

“I don’t know. But we have to check,” Seungmin replied, his voice sounding a bit more nervous than he’d like to admit. After all, Chan had been secretive, and the house stood empty.

Seungmin approached the door, gently pushing it to see if it was locked. He was surprised when it opened – the door was only slightly ajar.

“This doesn’t make sense,” he muttered, but stepped inside, with Jeongin following closely behind.

The interior of the house felt frozen in time. Old furniture, books scattered across the floor, a mess – it all gave the impression that someone had to leave suddenly, leaving nothing but chaos behind. A strange atmosphere filled the air, one that felt almost unsettling. But there was no time to dwell on it now. They had to find the documents Jeongin had mentioned.

“They must be here somewhere,” Seungmin said, walking through the living room and checking different rooms. Jeongin took to searching the desk. After a few minutes, they found a stack of papers hidden in one of the drawers.

“This is it,” Jeongin said, holding up the documents that seemed to be exactly what they were looking for. But before they could even celebrate the discovery, they heard a strange sound. They froze.

Footsteps on the stairs.

The silence in the house was suddenly broken by the creaking of old steps. Both of them froze, unsure of what to do. Seungmin’s heart started to race.

“What now?” Jeongin whispered, their eyes meeting, filled with fear.

“Who’s there? Chan’s locked away...” Seungmin struggled to suppress the panic in his voice, trying not to show any signs of worry. “It’s impossible that someone’s here.”

“What if someone moved in? Or someone... I don’t know... from his past?” Jeongin asked, his voice still muted, as if he didn’t want anyone to hear them.

Seungmin gritted his teeth, still uncertain about what to do. The footsteps were getting louder, and fear began to take hold of both of them.

“Quiet…” Jeongin whispered. Suddenly, the footsteps stopped. The boys immediately decided to act. Seungmin grabbed the documents and quickly headed for the exit.

“We’re running!” he whispered, grabbing Jeongin by the hand. They both bolted out of the house in an instant, as if they wanted to leave behind everything that had just happened.

They ran into the yard, almost not feeling their legs, and only then did they take a deep breath. Although their hearts were still racing, they felt relief that they had escaped without being noticed. But the strange unease lingered, uncertainty about what they might have just uncovered.

≈🎃≈

They returned to Seungmin’s apartment, the silence around them only adding to the tension. They entered the room, closed the door behind them, and without saying a word, tossed the documents onto the table. Jeongin took a deep breath, while Seungmin began running his finger along the edge of the pendrive, which had now become the key to solving the mystery.

“What if this is just another trap?” Jeongin said, as if thinking aloud.

“We have no choice, we have to try,” Seungmin replied, flipping through the documents. His eyes held something more than impatience now. There was fear growing with each passing minute, but also determination.

Seungmin’s gaze stopped on one of the documents – as if something had drawn him to it. He flipped through the pages until he came to a fragment that looked like just a list of names. Nothing special, really. But something about it stood out. At the bottom of the page, almost inconspicuously, was a string of numbers. This could be what they were looking for.

“Do you think this is related to the password?” Jeongin asked, leaning over his shoulder.

“We can check,” Seungmin said, pulling out the pendrive and plugging it into the laptop. He entered the string of numbers and… nothing. Again.

“This can’t be it,” Jeongin said, flipping through the documents, starting to search for anything that might help.

Seungmin took a deep breath. Only this moment separated them from the truth. Then, he noticed something – under another page, a small fragment of text that looked like a handwritten note. And this was it. The password. Finally.

“This is it!” he said, a wide smile on his face, and Jeongin nodded. “Let’s try it.”

Seconds felt like ages. Seungmin typed the string of characters, and finally, the laptop unlocked the pendrive. A folder appeared on the screen, containing something they hadn’t expected to find.

“We did it,” Jeongin whispered.

Seungmin didn’t say a word. His eyes stared at the screen, full of unease. This wasn’t the end. This was just the beginning.